SANTA CRUZ - An Oct. 8 trial date was set Tuesday for a man jailed on drug charges who has been named a suspect in a recent Soquel Hills homicide.

Colin Sean Tisdale of Scotts Valley has not been charged with the Aug. 16 slaying of Jeffrey Stephensen Smith.

The trial is for a charge of transporting methadone, public defender Ed Sidawi said.

In court, Sidawi told Judge John Salazar his client was not waiving his right to a speedy trial on that charge.

Sheriff's deputies stopped Tisdale on Highway 17 about eight hours after Smith, a 28-year-old father of a young girl, was shot in the driveway of his Nicasio Way home about 3:15 a.m.

Tisdale, 49, and his father were stopped near Idylwild Drive in Santa Clara County, deputy April Skalland said. Deputies said their BMW had a broken brake light, and they declined to say whether they had been looking for the car and why they were in Santa Clara County.

Tisdale consented to a search, which uncovered about 200 methadone pills, according to Skalland and prosecutors.

He had a prescription, but reportedly told a deputy that some of the pills were not his.

Prosecutor Steve Moore called Tisdale a suspect in the homicide during a Sept. 6 bail hearing, arguing to keep his bail set at $1 million. Judge Ariadne Symons set the amount at $250,000.

Prosecutors and investigators have been tight-lipped about the case and the head of the sheriff's Investigations Division declined Tuesday to discuss a motive or the timing of a possible arrest.

"Tisdale is the suspect," sheriff's Lt. Fred Plageman said. "It takes time to put an investigation together, but we're going to continue with our investigation."

Prosecutors often wait to file charges if the suspect is being held in custody for other reasons, to allow them more time to prepare a case.

Sidawi argued at the bail hearing that Tisdale would not flee and had lived in the county all of his life. Tuesday, outside court, he said the only family member he was aware of was Tisdale's father, John.

Colin Tisdale has been twice convicted of drug sales and weapons violations, prosecutors said. His most recent conviction, in October 2010, was for being a felon in possession of a firearm, court records show.

In 2007, he was convicted of inflicting corporal injury. In 2006, he was convicted of resisting arrest and illegal possession of ammunition.